Empty Properties and Second Home Levy

Council Tax Second Home Premium

In January 2024, our full council approved proposals for a Council Tax Second Home Premium to be levied on Second Homes.  This decision is in line with new flexibilities provided to local authorities in the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which received Royal Assent in October 2023.

If you own a furnished home that is not your main residence, a Second Home Premium of 100% will be levied on your Council Tax from 01 April 2025.  The Second Home Premium will be charged from day one a property is deemed to be your second home, unlike the Empty Home Premium which requires a property to be empty for 12 months.

Exceptions

The Government are planning to announce a number of exemptions from the Second Home Premium. Once announced, they will be published here.

Empty Home Premium (Levy)

An empty home premium is added to your full council tax bill if your home is empty and unfurnished for more than 1 year, the premium increases the longer your home is empty.

 The empty property premium was initially introduced from April 2013 for properties that had been empty and unfurnished for more than 2 years with a 50% premium then being applied. From April 2019 this premium was increased to 100% with greater premiums of 200% and 300% being introduced in subsequent years 2020 and 2021 for properties empty for more than 5 years and 10 years respectively. Under the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill, which received Royal Assent in October 2023, the period for which a property could be empty without incurring a premium was reduced from 2 years to 1 year.

The empty property premiums are now applied as follows:

• if your home is empty and unfurnished for 1 year or more, an empty home premium of 100% is added to your council tax bill
• if your home is empty and unfurnished for 5 years or more, an empty home premium of 200% is added to your council tax bill
• if your home is empty and unfurnished for 10 years or more, an empty home premium of 300% is added to your council tax bill 

The empty home premium will continue until the property becomes the main home of the resident(s).  Please contact the council with the name of the new occupant(s) and the date they moved in by email to: revenues@hertsmere.gov.uk   

Please note, periods of occupation of less than six weeks do not count when we charge council tax for the empty home again.

Uninhabitable Homes

If your home is uninhabitable either because it is derelict, undergoing major renovation, or demolished, you can seek to have your empty property deleted from the Council Tax Valuation List by downloading and completing the following form from the Valuation Office Agency website.  Once completed, please email it to ctinbox@voa.gov.uk, or post it to:

The Valuation Office Agency is an executive agency of HM Revenue & Customs and they are responsible for compiling and maintaining lists of council tax valuation bands for 26.8 million domestic properties as well as rateable values for 2.1 million commercial properties for Business Rates. 

 The Valuation Office Agency can therefore take 90 days to make a determination, so you will continue to be liable for payment of your council tax in the meantime.  It is therefore important for you to continue paying your council tax as billed until the council issue a revised bill.  Failure to pay your council tax will result in recovery action being taken against you.  Costs for such recovery action will be payable by you.  However, a refund will be made to you by the council for any overpayment made as a result of the VOA decision.  If you have lost your bill and require a replacement, please email your request to revenues@hertsmere.gov.uk with your full name and address.

For more information about the Valuation Office Agency, please visit the VOA website: Council Tax challenge form - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)